On Saturday, September 29th, MLOV joined many government agencies and community-based organizations for the 3rd Annual DC African Festival, sponsored by Mayor Gray and the DC Office on African Affairs (OAA). It was a great celebration of DC's culturally vibrant and linguistically diverse African community. In the earlier part of the day, we talked to community members about language access and conducted surveys for our new Rx Health Access Campaign. But to make it a true community-building event, even SMART youth got on their dancin' shoes and joined the crowd...

The theme of this year’s festival was “Building One City: Showcasing Africa’s History, Heritage and Interconnectedness,” reflecting Mayor Vincent Gray’s vision of building “One City” in which all residents thrive together. The celebration brought to life the goals of DC Office on African Affair’s (OAA) Multicultural Awareness and Community Building program, which aims to promote greater connection among the District’s ethnically diverse communities of African descent, as well as showcase the cultural contributions of Africa to the rich multiculturalism of the larger DC community. For more information on the great work of the DC Office on African Affairs, please visit their website here!